It is well known that the combustion and thermal efficiencies of internal combustion engines which use hydrocarbons such as diesel or gasoline as their principal fuel can be significantly increased by the introduction of small amounts of gaseous hydrogen into the ignition/combustion chamber as a fuel supplement. Moreover, it is also well known that gaseous hydrogen will reduce or alter some of the major pollutants present in the exhaust of gasoline-powered internal combustion engines, thereby decreasing their environmental impact.
However, gaseous hydrogen from conventional sources is extremely volatile and costly, and in practice it has been found impractical to provide the necessary amount of gaseous hydrogen from onboard storage tanks.
Although this invention is described in the context of hydrogen or hydrogen and oxygen supplementation of gasoline in an otherwise conventional internal combustion engine, in principle the main fuel and/or fuel supplement could also be (1) any liquid fuel, such as gasoline, alcohol, diesel, liquid propane, natural gas, or any combination of such liquid fuels; (2) any slurry or suspension, such as powdered coal; or (3) any mixture of gases, including any mixture of gases dissolved in or suspended in any liquid, suspension, or fluid fuel.